Reflections from the Obama Ghana Visit as seen on TV: He came, He saw, He Conquered... all in under 24 hours

An amazing thing happened the night the Obamas were due to arrive in Accra. It stopped raining for the first time in weeks and aside from brief early dawn rain on Saturday morning, we have been bathed in sunshine ever since! I call that Obama Magic. But lets get back to that Friday night. A few hours before Airforce One touched down, Accra was all kerfuffle. Cars were hurriedly making their way home like we had all been tele-ported back to the days of military curfews. I foolishly ignored warnings from family to leave work early and came face-to-face with monster traffic on my route home. Once I finally arrived home, I got excited text messages from my college friend M who works in Liberia (incidentally, like Obama, she has a Kenyan father and an American mother)


M: "Are you guys lining the streets to welcome Obama?"
Me: "No, we are all home. We were told the roads leading to the airport were blocked"

M was disappointed but could understand why the vast majority of Ghanaians were watching Obama beamed into their living rooms like the rest of the world. She still wants a souvenir she saw on CNN: President Obama next to a Kenyan flag and an American flag. Anyone know where I can find one?

Anyway, around 9pm, Airforce One finally touched down and the Obama family emerged full of smiles and warmth instantly charming all of us including our government ministers waiting at the airport. Clearly touched by Obama-Magic, the ministers could hardly contain their excitement; they took pictures and gushed. President Mills and his wife were full of grace and the whole ceremony was extremely brief but beautiful. I hear President Obama even tried his hand at some Ghanaian traditional dance.

The next morning I pondered over the possibilities of heading into town to either loiter somewhere around the Osu cemetery near the Accra International Conference Centre where the much-anticipated "Africa Address" would be held. *Alas* here's the thing:
I could've have loitered around but would completely miss the speech and possibly miss even a glimpse of Obama! In the end I found myself transfixed by the TV instead.

There was the breakfast meeting at the seat of government (Christianborg Castle). The sound of Angelique Kidjos's Akwaaba ("welcome" in the Akan language") was played as quite an apt soundtrack on one station. After a ceremony that involved national anthems and a super-quick inspection of the guard, the camera panned to a jammed packed area where the Who's who of Ghanaian political elite and society had gathered. There were the 2 former presidents, political party leaders, ministers, the Archbishop of the Catholic diocese of Accra and various other religious leaders. After President Obama's meet-and-greet , they sat down for breakfast and alas, transmission ended. I secretly hoped we would see what was on offer for breakfast .

I must have missed the visit of the Obamas to the La General Hospital because the next time I saw President Obama was when he was addressing the august House of Parliament.

What a rousing speech he gave! I will leave the analysis of the content to others .He spoke to all Africans; he addressed the youth, touched on issues of corruption, autocratic regimes and the need for the rule of law and democratic principles to prevail. The whole time I heard an underlying emphasis on "Africans can and should be self-sufficient"

One interesting remark he made was a reference to the young Ghanaian investigative journalist, the intrepidly daring Anas Ameyaw Anas He also mentioned Ms. Patience Quaye, a deputy police superintendent who has able to prevent a case of human trafficking.

After the beautiful CAN DO address, there was yet another meet and greet session with our parliamentarians. This time, we got to witness the effect of Obama-Magic on the opposition minority parliamentarians as they also excitedly shook hands with the Man of the hour. Majority parliamentarians were not left out either. Neither were Ex-president Mr. JA Kufuor or Ex-President Flight Lieutenant (RTD) Mr. Jerry John Rawlings who seems to also have a perchance for photography.
The next time we caught up Obama magic was in the Central Region of Ghana. The chiefs and people of Oguaa (known since colonial times as Cape Coast) were making their way to a meeting ground in golden splendor. A sizable crowd had also gathered in front of the Cape Coast Castle (a former slave fort and the point of no return for millions of Africans who were trafficked to the Americas and Caribbean in bondage).

At this point I realised that if I really wanted to see President Obama in the flesh, I could have camped out in Cape Coast with thousands of others.
The Obama family arrived by chopper for the tour of Castle and appeared to be in the company of Mrs Obama's mother (??)They were shown the castle by a tour guide as well as Honourable Fritz Baffour, a newly elected parliamentarian, former director of Ghana's National Museums and part-time actor. After leaving the Castle, President Obama gave a touching speech on the impact of the visit and then he disappeared! The TV commentator did not seem sure where the President and his family were. There was a rumour that Mrs. Obama was being enstooled as a Queen-mother but this was never confirmed. I saw on CNN this morning that it appears that Anderson Cooper was probably interviewing him in the castle during the time he disappeared from our screens. Anderson Cooper?! I love him! I did not even know he was in Ghana!

President Obama re-emerged and after pausing to tie his shoe-lace and a few waves they headed off to Accra. According to one newspaper President Obama ate kenkey (fermented maize/corn) while he was here. Quite an interesting choice for a Ghanaian dish. Although it is one of my favorites, I was once told by a British class-mate in grad school that he had tasted the most "God-awful rancid dish ever" while in Ghana - Alas it was kenkey! Never spoke to the guy again but I do wonder what Obama's feelings are about kenkey!

After Cape Coast, my eyes left the TV and I finally went off to do other things. The last time I caught President Obama was in a final rousing address outside Airforce One on the tarmac at the airport. The crowd seemed to be made up of mostly Americans. He and Mrs. Obama bid farewell, climbed the stairs of the plane hand in hand, turned around and gave us a lovely unforgettable final wave. *Sigh*

Well, President Obama has come and gone and we return to the humdrum of life in Accra. The Electricity Company of Ghana jolted us back to reality on Sunday by inexplicably shutting off our electricity from 8am to 6pm. Ain't that Africa for you and me.

Today's Daily Graphic: Fame has clearly gotten to our heads!